Texas: A Jew was executed - but his body was saved from fire

The body of Douglas Feldman, a 52-year-old Jewish resident of Texas convicted of several serious charges, sentenced to death and executed last week at a local prison was brought for Hewish burial in Dallas, following lobbying exerted by a rabbi at the place.

Rabbi David Goldstein, Texas Rabbi, says: "Two weeks ago I received a phone call telling me that there is a Jew in the local prison who will be executed next week, and his body will be sent for burning. The caller asked me to do something about it."

According to the Rabbi it is a prisoner who for some reason was not on the list of Jewish prisoners which he deals, and he goes on to tell: "Immediately I contacted the prison authorities and received permission to visit him. I got there with another rabbi and tallit and tefillin, and I started talking with him. It turns out that he is a Jew who never kept Torah and mitzvot - his parents were no more than Jews, on the contrary - he spoke as an atheist right out. It was only after a long conversation with him he relented and even agreed to put on tefillin for the first time in his life, and he cried like a baby.

Then we talked to him about the execution and burial. He said that his mother wanted him to be cremated, and he agrees. We explained to him that it is against the Jewish law, and told him a little about the importance of burial in Judaism, and he agreed to be buried as a Jew provided we can convince his mother. Currently we parted and promised to return. "

"But his mother insisted on the prisoner's cremation," told Rabbi Goldstein."I kept nagging her repeatedly until she agreed, while basing its decision on the fact that I was the only person who gave her son a hug since he was arrested. I asked to visit the Jewish man on the day of the execution, but the list of people allowed to be present was already full. The man was executed by lethal injection, and immediately after the execution released the body and he was buried according to Jewish law."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!